Multi-transceiver wireless communication device and methods for operating during device discovery and connection establishment

Abstract

Embodiments of a multi-transceiver wireless communication device and methods for operating during device discovery and connection establishment are generally described herein. In some embodiments, the multi-transceiver wireless communication device includes a broadband wireless access network (BWAN) transceiver and a short-range frequency-hopping (SRFH) transceiver. The SRFH transceiver transmits a non-continuous sequence of either page or inquiry trains to either discover or establish an initial connection with a SRFH device when an active BWAN connection exists with a base station. The non-continuous sequence of trains may include a regularly repeating vacant transmission interval selected to coincide with listen intervals of frames when the BWAN transceiver is in sleep mode.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A wireless communication device comprising:
 a broadband wireless access network (BWAN) transceiver to communicate with a base station using an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) technique; and 
 a short-range frequency-hopping (SRFH) transceiver to transmit a non-continuous sequence of trains for receipt by a SRFH device when the BWAN transceiver has an active connection with the base station, 
 wherein the non-continuous sequence of trains includes a regularly repeating vacant transmission interval selected to coincide with listen intervals of OFDMA frames during sleep mode, and 
 wherein the non-continuous sequence of trains is transmitted to either discover or establish an initial connection with the SRFH device. 
 
     
     
       2. The wireless communication device of  claim 1  wherein the vacant transmission interval comprises a multiple number (M 2 ) of OFDMA frame durations selected to regularly repeat within the non-continuous sequence of trains during a page scan interval, and
 wherein the non-continuous sequence of trains further includes a regularly repeating active transmission interval comprising one or more trains, the active transmission interval comprising a multiple (M 1 ) of OFDMA frame durations selected to regularly repeat within the non-continuous sequence of trains during the page scan interval. 
 
     
     
       3. The wireless communication device of  claim 2  wherein M 1  and M 2  are selected so that a scan window of the SRFH device coincides with one complete train within twice the duration of the page scan interval, and
 wherein the trains comprise either page trains used by the SRFH transceiver to establish a connection with a known SRFH device, or inquiry trains used by the SRFH transceiver to discover a SRFH device. 
 
     
     
       4. The wireless communication device of  claim 1  wherein the SRFH transceiver is configured to transmit a continuous sequence of trains when a connection between the BWAN transceiver and the base station is not established, the continuous sequence of trains being devoid of the regularly repeating vacant transmission intervals. 
     
     
       5. The wireless communication device of  claim 2  wherein M 1  and M 2  are determined based on a requested sleep pattern of the OFDMA frames,
 wherein the sleep pattern comprises alternating sleep intervals and listen intervals each comprising a number of OFDMA frames, 
 wherein the regularly repeating vacant transmission intervals are selected to coincide with the listen intervals, and 
 wherein the regularly repeating active transmission intervals are selected to coincide with the sleep intervals. 
 
     
     
       6. The wireless communication device of  claim 5  wherein the BWAN transceiver provides a frame-sync signal to the SRFH transceiver, the frame-sync signal indicating timing of the OFDMA frames and the sleep pattern of the BWAN transceiver,
 wherein the SRFH transceiver is configured to align a slot boundary with the frame-sync signal and to detect the sleep pattern of the BWAN transceiver, 
 wherein the listen intervals of the sleep pattern are indicated by shorter duration signal-level changes of the frame-sync signal, and 
 wherein the sleep intervals of the sleep pattern are indicated by longer duration signal levels of the frame-sync signal. 
 
     
     
       7. The wireless communication device of  claim 1  wherein the SRFH transceiver is configured to indicate to the BWAN transceiver that the SRFH transceiver is entering a critical stage to either discover a SRFH device or establish a connection with an already discovered SRFH device,
 wherein, in response to the indication by the SRFH transceiver, the BWAN transceiver is configured to send a request to the base station to enter sleep mode with a requested sleep pattern, and 
 wherein when the base station grants the requested sleep pattern, the SRFH transceiver configures the non-continuous sequence of trains to include the regularly repeating vacant transmission intervals selected to coincide with listen intervals. 
 
     
     
       8. The wireless communication device of  claim 7  wherein when the base station does not grant the requested sleep pattern, and when the BWAN transceiver either does not enter sleep mode or is granted a non-requested sleep pattern, the SRFH transceiver is configured to transmit the non-continuous sequence of trains during a critical stage and to signal the BWAN transceiver to refrain from transmitting during receive slots  307  of the trains. 
     
     
       9. The wireless communication device of  claim 1  wherein the trains comprise page trains when an initial connection is being established with the SRFH device, and
 wherein the trains comprise inquire trains when the SRFH device is being discovered. 
 
     
     
       10. The wireless communication device of  claim 9  wherein during a page scan or an inquire scan, the SRFH device is configured to either align a scan window with sleep intervals of the BWAN transceiver or to signal the BWAN transceiver to refrain from transmitting during the scan window. 
     
     
       11. The wireless communication device of  claim 1  wherein the BWAN transceiver comprises a Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax) transceiver, the base station comprises a WiMax base station, the SRFH transceiver comprises a Bluetooth (BT) transceiver, and the SRFH device comprises a BT device. 
     
     
       12. A method of operating a multi-transceiver wireless communication device comprising:
 transmitting, by a short-range frequency-hopping (SRFH) transceiver, a non-continuous sequence of trains to either discover or establish an initial connection with a SRFH device, 
 wherein the non-continuous sequence of trains includes a regularly repeating vacant transmission interval selected to coincide with listen intervals of a sleep pattern of a co-located broadband wireless access network (BWAN) transceiver. 
 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 12  wherein the BWAN transceiver communicates with a base station using an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) technique,
 wherein the SRFH transceiver to transmits the non-continuous sequence of trains for receipt by the SRFH device when a connection is currently established between the BWAN transceiver and the base station, and 
 wherein the regularly repeating vacant transmission interval is selected to coincide with listen intervals of OFDMA frames during sleep mode. 
 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 12  wherein the vacant transmission interval comprises a multiple number (M 2 ) of OFDMA frame durations selected to regularly repeat within the non-continuous sequence of trains during a page scan interval, and
 wherein the non-continuous sequence of trains further includes a regularly repeating active transmission interval comprising one or more trains, the active transmission interval comprising a multiple (M 1 ) of OFDMA frame durations selected to regularly repeat within the non-continuous sequence of trains during the page scan interval. 
 
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 14  further comprising selecting M 1  and M 2  so that a scan window of the SRFH device coincides with one complete train within twice the duration of the page scan interval, and
 wherein the trains comprise either page trains used by the SRFH transceiver to establish a connection with a known SRFH device, or inquiry trains used by the SRFH transceiver to discover a SRFH device. 
 
     
     
       16. The method of  claim 12  further comprising transmitting a continuous sequence of trains when a connection between the BWAN transceiver and a base station is not established, the continuous sequence of trains being devoid of the regularly repeating vacant transmission intervals. 
     
     
       17. The method of  claim 12  further comprising:
 indicating to the BWAN transceiver that the SRFH transceiver is entering a critical stage to either discover a SRFH device or establish a connection with an already discovered SRFH device; 
 sending a request to a base station to enter sleep mode with a requested sleep pattern in response to the indication by the SRFH transceiver; and 
 configuring the non-continuous sequence of trains to include the regularly repeating vacant transmission intervals selected to coincide with listen intervals when the base station grants the requested sleep pattern. 
 
     
     
       18. The method of  claim 12  wherein the trains comprise page trains when an initial connection is being established with the SRFH device, and
 wherein the trains comprise inquire trains when the SRFH device is being discovered. 
 
     
     
       19. The method of  claim 18  wherein during a page scan or an inquire scan, the method further comprises either:
 aligning a scan window with sleep intervals of the BWAN transceiver; or 
 signaling the BWAN transceiver to refrain from transmitting during the scan window. 
 
     
     
       20. A non-transitory computer-readable medium that stores instructions for execution by one or more processors for configuring a multi-transceiver wireless communication device perform the following operations:
 transmitting a non-continuous sequence of trains to either discover or establish an initial connection with a SRFH device, the non-continuous sequence of trains including a regularly repeating vacant transmission interval selected to coincide with listen intervals of a sleep pattern of a co-located broadband wireless access network (BWAN) transceiver; and 
 transmitting a continuous sequence of trains when a connection between the BWAN transceiver and a base station is not established, the continuous sequence of trains being devoid of the regularly repeating vacant transmission intervals. 
 
     
     
       21. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 20  wherein the vacant transmission interval comprises a multiple number (M 2 ) of OFDMA frame durations selected to regularly repeat within the non-continuous sequence of trains during a page scan interval, and
 wherein the non-continuous sequence of trains further includes a regularly repeating active transmission interval comprising one or more trains, the active transmission interval comprising a multiple (M 1 ) of OFDMA frame durations selected to regularly repeat within the non-continuous sequence of trains during the page scan interval. 
 
     
     
       22. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 20  wherein the BWAN transceiver communicates with a base station using an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) technique,
 wherein the instructions cause a SRFH transceiver to transmits the non-continuous sequence of trains for receipt by the SRFH device when a connection is currently established between the BWAN transceiver and the base station, and 
 wherein the instructions cause the selection of the regularly repeating vacant transmission interval to coincide with listen intervals of OFDMA frames during sleep mode. 
 
     
     
       23. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 20  wherein the trains comprise page trains when an initial connection is being established with the SRFH device,
 wherein the trains comprise inquire trains when the SRFH device is being discovered, wherein during a page scan or an inquire scan, the instructions cause either an alignment of a scan window with sleep intervals of the BWAN transceiver or signaling of the BWAN transceiver to refrain from transmitting during the scan window.